The Rise of the European Emperor

Seeing that there will be a war in February next year, and it will be a large-scale expedition of 20,000 people. Therefore, in terms of material preparation, Marin must be fully prepared. Otherwise, once the material supply is replenished, there will be a big mess.

It just so happened that there were tens of thousands of strong people in East Frisian, and they once served as strong people in the Saxony invasion army. Therefore, Marin ordered that this group of strong people be called together for discipline training and let them be responsible for the transportation of materials.

Before leaving for Lübeck, Schwartz and Stade were responsible for the training of 5,000 recruits. At the same time, after the autumn harvest, the old Hoffman also took 7,000 militiamen across the country and started military training together with the 5,000 recruits.

According to the plan, after Marin led the main force to quickly capture the Oldenburg Country, he would draw out some troops from the militia, stationed in Oldenburg, and monitor the members of the Oldenburg family. Moreover, the two small cities of Yevre will also be attacked by Adler. After capturing Yevre, Adler also led his troops into Oldenburg to ensure safety.

As for Marin, he personally led an army of 10,000 troops and joined the other 10,000 troops eastward, as well as the armies of Lübeck and Hamburg.

Because the national militia was mobilized, Marin was afraid that the people of Oldenburg would hear the news. So, he pulled recruits and militias to the central region for training. Moreover, it also closed the contacts with the Earl of Oldenburg, and merchants were also prohibited from entering, so as to avoid being caught by the businessmen who came and went, causing the County of Oldenburg to be vigilant.

Fortunately, there are very few exchanges between countries in this era. The serfs were confined to the manor and could not go out casually. Only businessmen, nobles, beggars, mercenaries and other special occupations can walk freely on the European continent. Among them, merchants have the strongest liquidity and the largest scale.

However, the merchants of East Friesland basically belong to the Chamber of Commerce established by Marin through Kohler. In other words, the merchants in East Frisian are actually all under Marin. Foreign businessmen came to East Frisland, and they used all means to crowd them out. Therefore, there are actually very few foreign merchants in East Friesland. Even if the eastern border is blocked, the impact on business will be negligible.

Therefore, Marin's army can safely train in the territory without worrying about being discovered by businessmen from other countries passing by. As for the reason for blocking the eastern border, it is also very simple - I was ceded the land, I am upset, and I cut off diplomatic relations with you...

Inside the Orich Palace, Marin is discussing logistical issues with several civilian officials including Prime Minister Jeffrey, Deputy Prime Minister Haider, and Chancellor of the Exchequer Kohler.

Unlike the last time to resist the invasion of the Saxon army, although tens of thousands of troops were used last time, because of the actual domestic battle, the supply is very convenient. Therefore, not many people are used.

But this time, Marin needed to go on an expedition with 20,000 troops and 10,000 people, and he needed too much preparation. If nothing else, food alone is an astonishing number. Food for 30,000 people! Because of the long journey, the soldiers were physically exhausted and must eat more than usual. Therefore, Marin arranged a daily amount of 3 pounds of rye for the soldiers to eat openly.

Fortunately, Marin has saved a lot of grain in the past few years, and has only sold grain once (the sale of grain by other nobles does not count). Therefore, the food reserves are sufficient enough for the soldiers to eat openly.

But it's not enough to bring rye, after all, the soldiers don't know how to make bread either. Therefore, Marin ordered that all male bakers in the country were also recruited to go out with the army. As for the domestic bread supply, for the time being it is left to the women. After all, almost everyone of the women of this era can make brown bread, but they are not the spoiled girls in Marin's previous life who couldn't do anything.

To this end, Marin also dispatched some officers to manage and train the bakers. What made Marin depressed was that half of the thousands of bakers recruited were unqualified and not suitable for long-distance expeditions.

Because these people are either too old or too fat to follow the same path. After all, bakers can still have enough to eat in this day and age. With a big head and a thick neck, he is either a noble or a cook... Therefore, those fat bakers who are fat and exhausted after walking for a few miles cannot go out with the army. In this way, Marin could only take 500 bakers away and follow the army to make bread for the soldiers...

As for the transportation of grain, Marin is already using ships to transport large quantities of rye from Emden to Hamburg for storage. In this way, the farmers do not have to transport the grain overland to Hamburg. After all, transporting grain by land is much more troublesome and labor-intensive than transporting grain by sea.

At that time, the civilians only need to bring enough rations to march from the mainland to Hamburg. After arriving in Hamburg, you can use the food that was shipped here before.

In addition to the food for 30,000 people, Marin also needs to prepare food for more than 5,000 horses. Moreover, this is to be separated from the food that people eat. Because horses eat oatmeal.

This time, Marin intends to use all the horses in the country. Except for those foals and old horses, a total of 5,035 mature horses have been registered. Among them, a small part are war horses, and the rest are mostly drawn horses. After Marin bought more than 20,000 cattle from Poland, the tasks of farming in the territory were all taken over by the cattle. These horses were also used for transportation and breeding. Near Aurich, Marin also gathered a large number of horses and donkeys, and concentrated on breeding mules...

Despite the fact that there are more than 5,000 horses, no one is many, but they eat more than people. Fortunately, horses are not purely for food, they can also eat grass. But even so, the amount of oat that needs to be carried is no less than the amount of rye that people eat...

Marin has a big head. He didn't expect that an expedition would require so much consideration. And, it's just a matter of food.

In addition, the soldiers' clothes, shoes, tent fabrics and pickets needed to set up camp were also transported with the army, which was very troublesome.

Fortunately, Marin had been promoting woven straw sandals in the military long ago, and wearing straw sandals is also very suitable for long-distance travel. The most important thing is - it's cheap...

It's easy to run out of shoes on long journeys. If you change to the leather shoes that are currently popular in Europe, how high is the cost? And cheap clogs are not suitable for long journeys at all, otherwise they will easily break. Therefore, cheap and practical straw sandals are the best choice. At the same time, the use of straw sandals can also save a lot of money. After all, the cost of straw sandals is too low, you can make it by pulling some grass anywhere, and the only cost is about labor. But the labor of this year is so worthless...

As for the uniforms of the soldiers, Marin did not issue a full set. After all, these armies are mercenaries, not conscripts. Therefore, Marin only gave each of them a white vest with a square black cross drawn on it with black ink, which saved a lot of fabric. As for the clothes on the inside, the soldiers figured it out themselves. Of course, Marin will prepare chest plate armor and steel helmets with active masks for the soldiers standing in the first three rows. After all, the soldiers in the first three rows were the most dangerous and the most elite, and Marin needed to ensure their safety.

In addition to food and clothes, Marin also arranged for Kohler to purchase a large amount of bacon and sausages that are easy to preserve, easy to carry on the march, and supplement nutrition for the soldiers.

In addition, the ammunition required by the gun is also an important part of the transportation. To this end, Kohler also sent a ship to Spain to purchase lead blocks. The East Frisian army had many musketeers, and the consumption of lead bullets was high. The European lead production areas are mainly in southern Europe such as Spain and Italy. Marin wants to fight a large-scale battle and needs so much lead, so he can only go to southern Europe to purchase it.

In war, casualties are unavoidable. Therefore, Marin also needs to prepare enough medicine, gauze and alcohol. To this end, Marin also asked Kohler to buy large quantities of undyed linens, washed and dried, and packaged. Boiled and dried at any time after arriving on the battlefield, it is used to bandage wounded soldiers. As for alcohol, the dark beer brewed by the brewmaster who just sent someone to invite also made a lot of it. Marin had the luxury of removing many barrels of stout, which he used directly in a steamer to start multiple rounds of distillation to obtain the alcohol the warriors needed. The aroma of wine escaping from the steam room made many drunkards drool. But there was no way, it was alcohol that was going to bandage the wounded, and no one could make up their minds.

As for the medical staff who accompanied the army, Marin directly ordered the dispatch of the court doctors who were dug from the Golden Horde, and taught them the common sense of modern medical care, so that they would follow Marin's army action with a large amount of gold sore medicine and give them to them at any time. Soldiers healed...

After a whole day of meetings, the material preparations were arranged in place, and Marin also had a headache - what's more, the labor expedition is really annoying. There are many things to prepare, and the most important thing is that there are many tricks. It was so complicated that Marin felt a little dizzy after a day's meeting...

Fortunately, these specific tasks, Marin arranged for others, do not have to prepare. Otherwise, he will just go crazy...